Third Wheeler
by ChibiMilly
Summary: Both liked him. Both wanted to get to know him a little more than just friendship. Neither expected the other to give them competition for him. Hive Five, slash.
1. Chapter 1

Billy liked country, naturally. However, he was actually a much larger fan of classic rock. One could hear the very beginnings of Rock and Roll – Buddy Holly often showing up in the playlist – often emanating from his room, played for his own enjoyment.

See-More's tastes were a little more obscure. They Might Be Giants were among his top favorite bands, especially their more upbeat work. It was a little geeky, but when he laid back in his bed and turned on the Lincoln album, he was having a good time. Weird Al – definitely geeky – was also hidden somewhere among his cd collection.

Kyd Wykkyd's tastes were a little jarring at first for most people. In the Hive academy, people noticed the dark clothing. They also especially noticed that he didn't talk. Ever. They suspected him to be mysterious and brooding due to these two parts.

The second part had an easier explanation. Kyd Wykkyd was mute. He couldn't talk at all. As for the clothing, well, he simply liked dark clothing.

His taste in music completely betrayed his fashion sense. Wykkyd liked pop. Loved pop. Classic pop. From the eighties and back. The bouncy, upbeat parts of the Beatles' work were his absolute favorites, Yellow Submarine being one of his favorite songs of all time. He grinned widely to himself while he listened to it, singing it in his head.

Three different people, with very distinctive personalities. The beginnings of those differences illustrated in something as simple as what one listens to.

Yet, they were more linked than any of them knew.

And that was about to cause a lot of headaches.


	2. Chapter 2

For Billy, he could trace it back to one moment in particular. The Hive Five was doing a normal robbery job, nothing special. Just one more bank to drain of its cash and use it for whatever the hell they wanted once they got it. They never robbed anyone with any clear idea on what they were going to do with the money beforehand. Didn't seem to be a point to. They'd figure out things to spend money on, no problem. Gizmo in particular had expensive needs for his invention fits.

However, the bank job didn't go down smoothly. The police showed up, which elicited nothing more than an irritated sigh from Jinx when they did. The police told them to stand down, and, naturally, no member of the Hive Five is just going to surrender because some cop told them to. So they prepared to attack, but there was one officer at the scene – probably a rookie. His hand shook on the gun, and he had no idea what to do. They were dealing with super-powered minors, after all. That's got a lot of legalese to deal with after you're done, as well as a potentially huge amount of pain while you're there.

Eventually, the stress took its toll, and he clocked off a shot without meaning to, the sweaty index finger just pulling back on the trigger by accident. It wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, but the shot did look to be coming close to where Kyd Wykkyd was. Without hesitation, Billy multiplied sideways rapidly, until one of the clones felt something sharp and hot hit the upper right corner of his chest.

"GAH! _FUCK!_" He yelled, gritting his teeth once the bullet hit him. Kyd Wykkyd mouth was wide open in surprise, coming close to make sure he was okay.

They managed to make it back to their base that night with about 25 percent of the money they had taken. But that wasn't Billy's concern – after all, he robbed for the fun of it.

He was too wrapped up in spending time with Wykkyd. After he'd taken a bullet for him, Wykkyd kept with Billy the whole night, making sure he was okay. Naturally, since the clones could be remerged and the original Billy would remain unharmed, he was fine. But they stayed on that couch anyway, Wykkyd asking Billy to explain his powers more, talking about memories of Hive Academy, movies they liked, anything. Wykkyd, of course, had to speak through pen and paper. But around the third hour of Billy being able to talk and Wykkyd having to respond in a much slower fashion, Billy figured "Hell, why don't ah jus' learn sign language? Ain't fair to you fer me to be talkin' like this when ya can't, and it'd speed things right up."

Wykkyd grinned and nodded. He liked the idea of that. Billy smiled right back.

That night, Billy thought to himself. That was the exact night he could claim as the start of it all.

Of course, thinking about it now made him nervous and embarrassed. He wasn't sure what to do with these feelings – was barely with any girls while he was in Texas, and even less in Hive Academy. He'd never felt like this for a _guy._ Was there different rules to go about this than there was with girls, he wondered? 'Am I even sure I like Wykkyd like that' was another common thought plaguing his mind. There were thousands of little stresses pushing on him in this situation, and they kept him silent, afraid to say anything that might reveal how he really felt. The connection, the attraction. He was afraid of screwing up, he wasn't sure how he felt about liking guys this way, and there were so many more fears that kept it hidden.

Still, those fears seemed to disappear whenever he could get some solid time with Wykkyd. Playing video games, watching movies, anything. The worries would melt away. He was too caught up in good times to care about them.

Billy, however, was completely oblivious to the fact that he had some competition for Wykkyd.


End file.
